Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Chapter 345: Chapter 24 Lieutenant Mason_3

“Run? Where to run? The plains are barren in every direction.” The lieutenant’s face had a smile that wasn’t quite a smile as he patiently explained, “Moreover, those who come here are only serving light sentences. A few months of work and they can go home. If they run away, they’ll be wanted for a lifetime. Actually, I’m quite hoping that a few would run every now and then, so I could have a bit more fun.”

“Do Paratu people always replace imprisonment with labor?” Bard asked.

“Those day-sheep bastards are stingy as hell. How could they tolerate convicts eating for free in prison?” Whenever Mason spoke of the Paratu People, he always did so with dissatisfaction: “But working for two months for stealing a chicken is still better than having a hand chopped off, don’t you think?”

“That’s true,” everyone agreed.

“But there’s one good thing about those day-sheep bastards—they don’t meddle much. As long as the required livestock is delivered, they don’t care about the rest. Life here is pretty relaxed for me. These past few years have been good, so I’ve even been able to pay the prisoners wages and give them some meat. Some of the homeless convicts end up not wanting to leave at all.” Mason’s face lit up with excitement: “I’ve been improving the breeding stock. Once I find a way to get out of this uniform, I’ll buy a small ranch in Palatu…”

The three sub-lieutenants exchanged glances, realizing that despite complaining about being assigned to pig farming, their senior officer had clearly become fully invested in the endeavor.

“Senior, have you heard about the conscription that’s supposed to happen soon?” Winters asked the lieutenant.

Visiting Lieutenant Mason, Winters and the others also intended to casually inquire about the outside world.

But it seemed that Mason was even more cut off from the world than they were, which caught them by surprise.

Winters had also told his two friends about the “conscription” mentioned by Colonel Castor, and they concluded that Colonel Castor had no reason to lie to Winters.

However, they knew nothing about why the conscription was needed; they didn’t even have a clear understanding of what “conscription” truly meant in Palatu.

Although the lieutenant did not seem to be particularly well-informed, Winters still mentioned it offhandedly.

To his surprise, Mason answered matter-of-factly, “Of course, I know. It’s probably happening right after the autumn harvest.”

“You’ve received news too?” Winters was taken aback.

“No, who would send me news?” Lieutenant Mason pulled out a few papers from the large table: “Even though no one sends me news, by reading the army post newsletters that the military courier sends, I can guess what those day-sheep bastards are up to.”

Newsletters? Winters had never received any.

After Mason explained, the three sub-lieutenants learned that the Paratu Army couriers delivered only once a quarter, bringing salaries and newsletters for various stationed officers along the way.

In the Republic of Palatu, with its vast territory and sparse population, communication between settlements was difficult. To alleviate this issue, the military and administrative agencies distributed newsletters quarterly throughout the country to ensure at least a basic flow of information.

Winters and the others carefully read the newsletters from the last quarter, but no matter how hard they looked, they couldn’t find any mention of a post-harvest conscription or even see the word “conscription.”

“The army has been pushing it for quite a while now. They’re just shy of coming out and saying it directly,” Lieutenant Mason said calmly: “Considering the circumstances, they’ll probably conscript after harvest and go to war in the winter. They might even draft prisoners, which is why I’m hurrying to cut the grass. If the prisoners are drafted, then I won’t have enough hands here.”

“Think about it,” the lieutenant said with a cold laugh: “Why would The Federated Provinces choose this time to deal with Palatu? They’ve bitten down hard because they’re sure that those day-sheep bastards will tolerate it.”@@novelbin@@

COMMENT
0 comment

Vote
3 left

SEND GIFT